Carlton: From window washer to record-setting QB, Nick Florence has traveled a long road at Baylor

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10 UCLA BRUINS THAT BAYLOR FANS SHOULD KNOW: The Baylor Bears ended their season on an impressive three-game win streak. Their reward? A match up with a UCLA squad that was a quarter away from a BCS berth. Yes, Baylor was playing its best football by the end of the year, but but finding a way to knock off the Bruins won't be an easy task. Our Baylor blogger Josh Friemel takes a look at 10 UCLA players that Baylor must contain to win Thursday night's Holiday Bowl.

Nick Florence has
turned college football’s most difficult assignment into a season to savor.

As the quarterback following Heisman winner
Robert Griffin III at Baylor, Florence knew he
couldn’t duplicate Griffin’s
arm strength or world-class speed or flair for the dramatic. Yet somehow, he
just might duplicate some of RG3’s numbers.

Going into Thursday’s Bridgepoint Education
Holiday Bowl against UCLA, Florence could conceivably
break Griffin’s
season records for passing yards and total offense, among others.

“He’s been unbelievable,” Baylor coach Art
Briles said. “I think he had the toughest job in America to come in and follow a
Heisman Trophy winner with all the dynamic qualities that Robert had.”

Then again, Florence knows all about hard jobs. After
graduating from South Garland, he delayed
enrolling in Baylor as a full-time student for a semester, grayshirting as it’s
called. During that time away from school, he worked as a window washer in Waco.

“It was mainly residential, two-story houses,”
Florence said.
“The more experienced guys did the really high ladders. But I did get to see a
lot of real cool houses.”

Like?

“In the main living room of one, it had every
type of animal you could imagine,” Florence
said. “The coffee table was made from an elephant’s foot. There was a polar
bear, all kinds of deer and elk on the walls. It was a sportsman’s paradise.
And there was a fireman’s pole connecting the first and second floors.”

Florence even re-enacted his
window washing memories at Baylor’s practice facility this year for a TV spot.

Now he’s leading the nation in total offense,
a unique transition from dirty jobs to filthy numbers.

He noted the dichotomy of his past four years
at Baylor.

“It feels like I’ve been here forever, but at
the same time, it’s flown by,” Florence
said. “It’s been a journey I wouldn’t trade for anything. I wouldn’t change one
moment.”

Florence’s career has been
more of an on/off switch than a steady progression. He was thrust into the
starting quarterback spot in 2009 after Griffin
tore a knee ligament three games into the season.

He gave up a planned redshirt season late last
year after Griffin
suffered a concussion against Texas Tech. He only played a half and led a
victory that was significant for Baylor’s season and Griffin’s Heisman momentum.

Then and now, he has no regrets about a
decision that cost him a chance to return in 2013. When Briles talked to him at
halftime, Florence
didn’t hesitate.

“So when he asked me how I felt about burning
the redshirt,” Florence
said, “it was no question for me to do whatever needed to be done.”

He put more brain power into how he would deal
with being Griffin’s
successor.

“I had to approach it differently,” Florence said. “I’m not
Robert. If I tried to be like Robert Griffin, I would fail miserably. I try to
get the ball in playmaker’s hands and let them do their things.”

Doubts abounded.

In 2009, Florence
struggled after Griffin’s
injury. Now, he and the Baylor offense are more mature.

“When he went into the season, he knew his
capabilities and what he could do and the capabilities of the team,” his wife Rachel said, “and he knew it would be enough to get to a third
[consecutive] bowl and make history for Baylor. He knew it was more than
enough.”

The playmakers who benefitted from Florence’s
decision-making agreed.

Consensus All-American receiver Terrance
Williams said players knew after the opener against SMU that Florence was the guy. Even in losses, it was
hard to fault Florence.
The offense produced a combined 113 points in losses to West
Virginia and Texas.

Because of his unselfish attitude and underdog
personna, Florence
has become a fan favorite.

An economics major now pursuing a master’s
degree in business, Florence
has outside interests as Rachel discovered when he proposed to her. He led her
on a scavenger hunt of Waco, illustrating key
moments in their relationship before ending at Cameron Park overlooking the Brazos River.
Football never surfaced.

Florence also listened to his
predecessor, who now has the Washington Redskins on the verge of an NFC East
title.

“Robert just told me to be who I am and have
fun,” Florence
said. “You play your best football when you’re having fun.”

And by having fun, Florence
just might erase a few of Griffin’s
records.

Understudy shines

Baylor senior quarterback Nick Florence has a chance to break
several of Robert Griffin III’s season records against UCLA in the Bridgepoint
Education Holiday Bowl. The rundown:

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